Keywords: China cheers S.Korean refusal to extradite Japanese embassy attacker, China urges Myanmar to maintain stability in border areas

China cheers S.Korean refusal to extradite Japanese embassy attacker

The Chinese government applauded South Korea's decision to turn down extradition request by Tokyo of a Chinese citizen currently serving a jail sentence for an arson attack against the Japanese embassy in Seoul last January.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed approval of Seoul High Court's decision on the case.

Liu Qiang, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for throwing a firebomb at the Japanese embassy in Seoul in early 2012. During investigations, Liu was later connected with a similar attack on Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in December 2011.

Liu's Korean grandmother was forced to be a comfort woman by the Japanese army during World War II, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese media ascribed South Korea's decision of sending back Liu to both Beijing's diplomatic efforts and the consensus reached between Beijing and Seoul on Japan's past invasions.

People's Daily (Overseas edition) carried a report on Saturday that the extradition request was either going to end in a showdown with either Beijing or Tokyo, a reason why Seoul tackled the case through due process of law.

South Korea had better enter further discussions over Liu's case with Japan at a suitable time in order to avert any protest from Japan, the report quoted an unnamed South Korean diplomat as saying. 

However, a staffer with the Seoul High Court said that Liu's case could only have a limited influence on bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea as "the decision was made because Liu's 10-month jail is nearly finished," according to People's Daily.

"It sounds far-fetched to relate the case to diplomacy," said the court staffer.

Echoing People's Daily, Global Times (Chinese version) ran an opinion piece on Friday, saying that Liu's grandmother's history as a comfort woman won sympathy and support from the South Korean public by quoting Wang Changlin, a Korean Peninsula expert with the Chinese Association of Asia-Pacific Studies.

Wang held that Seoul's decision showed both Chinese and South Korean nationals objected to any revival of Japanese militarism and their common stance on Japan admitting to its war crimes, and suggested both nations consolidated diplomatic efforts to cope with any possible denial from Japan of its past invasions.

Similarly, Beijing News also published an opinion piece on Saturday, saying that instead of a diplomatic solution, a judicial alternative could have helped foster a more assuasive atmosphere during the delicate period of leadership transition in China, Japan and South Korea.

Despite the decision, Japan perhaps does not want to protest too much in fear of worsening its already soured relationship with South Korea, said the report.

Both nations took other factors into consideration in facing Liu's successful release at the transition period, said the report, adding that the case has immeasurable value in helping East Asian peoples come to a consensus about their region's recent history.

China urges Myanmar to maintain stability in border areas

China urged Myanmar to maintain stability in border regions on Friday after bombs fell in Chinese territory during the armed conflict in northern Myanmar.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed at a press briefing on Friday that three Myanmar bombs fell in China's Yunnan Province on December 30, 2012 during a conflict between Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army.  

"We urge Myanmar to take immediate and effective measures to prevent such an incident from occurring again," said Hua.

Chinese media sounded off on the armed conflict, China's role in helping Myanmar refugees and possible solutions to maintaining stability along the border.

"In the past, the Myanmar government was determined to resolve their conflict with the Kachin Independence Army, but now due to the external instigation from Western nations, that possibility has lessened," said Sun Xiaoying, a researcher from the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences in a Global Times (Chinese version) opinion piece published on Saturday.

Sun held that the incident could serve as a wake-up call to China to strengthen security in border areas.

"China puts more effort in developing its economy and pays relatively less attention to many issues with regards to international relations. Although this approach fosters world peace and development, it could leave its border areas unsecure," according to Sun.

Gong Jianrong, a vice director of the publicity department of Yingjiang county, Yunnan, told China National Radio on Saturday that the county has prepared emergency plans for the safety of Myanmar refugees and local residents in the county.

However, trade between the county and the bordering Myanmar town, which Gong values at over 100 million yuan, is no longer possible due to Myanmar roadblocks used during the conflict.

Renowned Phoenix TV reporter Lüqiu Luwei said the conflict is a matter of Myanmar's domestic affairs, and a resolution depends on the government's ability to negotiate both sides.

What the Chinese government could do in the short term is to increase communication with both the Myanmar government and Chinese nationals living in border areas who have been effected by the armed conflict, as well as offer relief aid whenever possible, especially to Myanmar refugees.